Chapter 69

Lu Li’s Live Stream Room was undergoing emergency network repairs.

[Spirit Money*15000 tipped. Oh my god, the Streamer was still holding the flowers and asking us at the entrance to the night phase-do ghosts like flowers? Of course they do! They make me happy. Tipped.]

[Spirit Money*10000 tipped. Damn it! The Streamer was about to give me the flowers, and now the network’s down. Another blackout! Moderator, get over here and fix it! Luckily, I screenshotted the Streamer holding the flowers before the blackout-otherwise, how would you compensate me?!]

[Just a little human and you’re all bewitched? Where’s your morality, your bottom line, your pictures? Upstairs, send me a copy, thanks. Your private messages are closed, can you follow me back? I can’t send images without following.]

[Everyone, please stay calm. I’m the Moderator. The Live Stream Room’s network is unstable at night, and the team is working overtime to fix it.]

[Even my corpse spots have faded, it’s so warm. The trolls in the Live Stream Room have all quieted down. After staying in the dark Underworld for so long, how long has it been since I’ve seen something so clean and full of life? The last time I received flowers, I was still alive. I really want to touch them, but there are no flowers in the Underworld.]

[If the Streamer gives these flowers to any ghost, they’ll love them.]

[I don’t believe there’s a ghost in the Underworld so cold-hearted that they have no feelings. Was he asking us because he wants to give the flowers to someone? (So annoyed I can’t see what happens next, slam the Moderator.)]

In the cramped room,

The young man held up a blooming bouquet of White Flowers, tilting his head as he asked:

“Is it pretty? Look, it’s round-doesn’t it look like the clouds we saw that day?”

Bosi’s thoughts stalled for a moment.

“What is this?”

Lu Li said, “It’s the flowers I want to give you.”

He pushed the White Flowers forward, almost touching Bosi’s hand.

The densely packed petals trembled slightly, some closed buds slowly unfurling.

Alive.

They were living things.

Bosi instinctively stepped back, bumping into the table. His palm landed directly on the wooden surface, making a hissing, corrosive sound-the wood aged and sank inward.

“Take it away first,” Bosi hurriedly grabbed his gloves and put them on.

Finally, the gloves were on.

He let out a breath.

Thank goodness for the gloves.

No one noticed his palm was already sweating with anxiety.

Lu Li, disappointed, lowered the flowers. “Seeing them doesn’t make you happy?”

He had even asked the tens of thousands of ghosts in the Bullet Comments, and every single one had excitedly said they liked flowers.

It seemed Bosi was a very special ghost.

Bosi pulled the brim of his Black Robe lower. “No need to give me gifts. As long as you do your job well in the Instance, you’ll get the pay and rewards you deserve.”

“That’s not why I’m giving you flowers,” Lu Li said. “I saw something beautiful in the Instance and wanted to share it with you. Even though you’re always cold, I know you’re a good ghost. To me, you’re not just my boss who pays my salary.”

Lu Li: “I consider you my first friend. Do you understand?”

Bosi sliced open a spatial rift, took out a vase with an exquisite pattern, pointed at the flowers in Lu Li’s hand, and explained,

“I can’t hold them-they might die.”

“They should go in a vase.”

–

Game Night was short.

Lu Li said a few words and was soon sleepy.

He left Bosi sitting at the table for a long time.

On the table, besides the usual three items, there was now a vase.
The White Flower affected his work progress; for half a day, he hadn’t finished reading a single document.

It wasn’t until Lu Li’s breathing became steady and he had fallen asleep that Bosi’s gaze finally landed on the White Flower.

He thought, it really did look a bit like the clouds in the sky when Lu Li was on vacation.

But that day was too short, and he hadn’t looked closely.

When this Instance ends, he could give Lu Li another day off.

That way, there would be enough time to look at the sky.

With a soft “clack,” he set down his quill.

Bosi stared at his own hand.

When there was no barrier, everything he touched would turn to nothingness, so he had a pair of gloves specially made.

With them on, touching dead things causes no reaction.

There are no living things in the Underworld.

There never had been, for as long as he could remember.

He didn’t know what would happen if he touched something alive.

“I’m wearing gloves,” Bosi muttered to himself. “Just a touch, it should be fine.”

After all, this was a gift for him.

Shouldn’t he at least be able to touch it?

Bosi leaned in and, as he touched the White Flower-

death still followed.

The flower he touched instantly withered and curled up, turning to powder and scattering into the air.

The first flower was the switch for death.

From then on, the withering spread relentlessly.

Bosi reached out, wanting to save the remaining flowers, but before he could touch them, he quickly withdrew his hand. He didn’t know what to do.

When he stood up, the table wobbled, the vase was near the edge, and it accidentally fell.

“Crash!”

The vase shattered on the floor, waking Lu Li.

Lu Li groggily climbed up from the floor, rubbing his eyes. “What happened?”

“I broke it.” Bosi felt his explanation was feeble. If he hadn’t touched the flower just now, everything would still be fine.

He knelt on one knee, avoiding the flowers as he picked up the pieces of the vase.

Bosi said to Lu Li, and also to himself, “Don’t give me gifts anymore.”

Lu Li squatted beside him, helping to pick up the shards. He realized that he could actually discern Bosi’s emotions from his usually unchanging tone.

The brim of the Black Robe covered most of Bosi’s face.

“Don’t be sad.” Lu Li lay on the clean floor, looking up at Bosi’s expression. He let out a sigh of relief. “Good that you didn’t cry.”

“It’s okay, it’s just the vase that broke. The flowers are still here, right? We can just put them in a new vase.”

Lu Li had brought back a lot of flowers, so he didn’t even notice a few were missing. Instead, he enthusiastically offered Bosi suggestions: “The table in the room is too small, and you have so many documents. It’s normal to accidentally knock things over.

If we look for a new vase, we should be picky and see if there’s a material that won’t break if it falls. What do you think?”

Bosi said, “I’ll go look.”

–

Back in Game Day, as soon as Lu Li stepped out the door, a hand reached out from the golden floor, grabbed his leg, and pushed him to sit at a tall dining table.

The hand kept urging him.

“Hurry up!”

“Quick! Hurry, it’s time for Madam’s meal!”

Lu Li was placed on a high stool and finally saw what was on the table.

The table was covered with delicious food, heaps of fruits and vegetables piled high, fresh fish leaping about, octopus, starfish, and shells all mixed together, with steaming white vapor rising from the soup pot.

Mrs. Qiao impatiently tapped the table with her dining knife. “Take your seats, guests. Today I’ll show you what the rich usually eat!”